Wednesday, 6 March 2013

GBD country data published

New data for the Global Burden of Disease 2010 has been published by the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation at an event hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. New online tools enable interrogation of country-level data, allowing for a detailed picture of health issues - including road traffic injuries. Speaking at the launch alongside Bill Gates, IHME Director Prof. Christopher Murray described road injury as a 'major contributor' to the global burden of disease. His data finds that road crashes are now the leading cause of death for boys and young men aged 10-29 and the second leading cause, after HIV/AIDS, for men aged 30-40. Responding for the World Bank, Nicole Klingen, Acting Director of Health, highlighted the road injury data and said the GBD study "will require a multi-sectoral lense, and we will look at reassessing policy and funding discussions across the development spectrum". Watch the webcast here . The Road Safety Fund was represented at the launch by our US Director, Dr Bella Dinh Zarr, who said: "It is clear that for young men of school and working age, road injury is now the leading burden of disease. Policymakers and donors need to follow the evidence and take urgent action to stem this avoidable epidemic on the world's roads".
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Bella Dinh Zarr, US Director of the Road Safety Fund, (right) with David Sleet of the US Centers for Disease Control - one of the contributors to the GBD study - at the launch at the Gates Foundation